One of the two new companies replacing French Fret SNCF, Technis, is currently facing legal issues as there is another company with the same name already registered. The ‘original’ Technis took the matter to court. “It is heartbreaking to see that certain groups consider themselves to be above the law”, the company lamented.
The ‘new’ Technis was founded, together with Hexafret, to replace Fret SNCF in the context of a massive restructuring, implemented to avoid harsh sanctions from the European Commission. The former should take care of maintenance tasks, while the latter will pick up Fret SNCF’s rail freight operations. However, the issue concerning the name Technis remain a pickle which will only be solved in French courts.
The impact on the ‘real’ Technis
The legal action was launched by the “real Technis”, as the company founded in 2016 refers to itself. “This, in addition to associating the real Technis with social movements from which it is far removed, has the effect of completely drowning out the SEO, communication and all of Technis’ actions towards its audiences”, it pointed out. Now, as a source from the company told RailFreight.com, it is all up to the lawyers.
The ‘real’ Technis, a platform for collecting, aggregating and analyzing data relating to the monitoring and optimization of physical spaces was founded in 2016 by Wiktor Bourée, who registered the company name in both France and Switzerland. Ironically enough, the company already cooperated with the SNCF Group as a supplier.
SNCF ignored the warnings
“Technis has approached SNCF since the name was revealed, and has even had to issue a formal cease and desist notice”. Despite this, SNCF officially adopted the name Technis for its new maintenance company, sparking adverse reactions from the one founded in 2016. “As a result, and in view of this lack of serious consideration of its legitimate concerns (and this desire to appropriate a promising trade name), Technis has decided to take the matter to court in France and Switzerland”, the company concluded.